Taylor Wily, the sumo wrestler-turned-Hawaii Five-0 actor, died Thursday, June 20, according to local Hawaii TV outlet KITV. He was 56.
Although specifics regarding the death – where, and a cause – were not immediately known, his passing was confirmed by Peter M. Lenkov, executive producer of the Hawaii Five-0 2010-2020 reboot.
Initially posting an Instagram message saying simply, “I am devastated. Heartbroken. I’ll post some detailed feelings later. Just too hard right now,” Lenkov followed up with a lengthier post, addressing Wily directly:
“T, as I told you many times, I fell in love with you at the first audition. You came in with a towel on your head mopping up sweat, and I was smitten. You charmed me into making you a regular… on the show… and in my life. You were family. And I will miss you every day, brother.
“PS: when we spoke last week, we laughed at how right you were from Day 1. Five-0 was our dream job. And I was so lucky we got to share that magic together.”
Born Teila Tuli on June 14, 1968, Wily was from from Laie, Hawaii and was of American Samoan descent. Prior to becoming an actor, he was a successful and popular sumo wrester and mixed martial artist. After leaving sumo, Wily began competing in Ultimate Fighting Champships, competing as Teila Tuli in his first UFC bout in November 1993.
His first notable acting role in a major film came in the comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008 in which he played a hotel worker who befriends Jason Segel’s main character Peter Bretter. Two years later, he was cast in a recurring role on Hawaii Five-0 as informant Kamekona, a character he would play for the next ten years on the show.
He played the same character in seven episodes of Magnum P.I. from 2018 to 2020.
Wily is survived by wife Halona and their two children.
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